Inequality in Britain today 'is Dickensian'

The UK has failed to address the issue of inequality, with the gap between rich and poor as stark as it was in the Victorian era.

According to author and human geography expert Danny Dorling, inequality is on the rise and the political establishment is not doing enough to address the issue.

Speaking to the Guardian, he claimed that his outburst about inequality will cause quite a stir - especially in the run up to the General Election.

'Labour people will be angry because they will say, "You haven't talked about what we've done, and we've done so very much". They won't accept it.' Dorling said.

He added: 'And the Conservatives will... bash Labour as part of their broken Britain thing.'

Dorling believes that the five evils identified by economist and social reformer William Beveridge - ignorance, want, idleness, squalor and disease - are being replaced with five new evils: elitism, exclusion, prejudice, greed and despair.